Trombone



Feb. 16, 1954 D. SHUMAN TROMBONE INVENTOR Dav/s Shaman Filed Feb. 17,1950 li a ll E BY fizz g yd z! I ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 16, 1954 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE TROMBONE Davis Shuman, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application February 17, 1950, Serial No. 144,740

3 Claims. i

The present invention relates to wind instruments and more particularlyto slide trombones. Heretofore slide trombones have been made with thebell, mouthpiece and slide almost parallel with the result that thetrombonist requires a substantial amount of room in front of him. Veryoften, the space alloted to an orchestra or band is insufiicient toprovide so much room and it is necessary for the trombonist to point thebell downwards so that the bell doe not directly face the audience ordance floor. For this reason the effect of the trombone is diminished oreven lost. In addition, when the slide of the straight slide trombone isfully extended, the instrument becomes unbalanced and it is difficultfor the trombonist to hold the instrument in proper balance.

I have found that these difficulties can be avoided by inclining thetelescopic sections and the slide of the trombone at an angle to theaxis of the bell and mouthpiece so that the slide can be moved at anangle to avoid striking a person in front of the trombonist without thenecessity of directing the bell away from the audience. Inclining theslide also improves the balance of the instrument since, in normalplaying position, the horizontal extension of the slide is not as greatas in the conventional trombone and the arm movement is easier and morenatural.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a trombonewhich can be conveniently played in a relatively mall space.

Another object of the invention is to provide a trombone in which theslide is inclined at an angle to the bell.

A further object is to provide a new and improved water pail for windinstruments.

These and other objects and advantages reside in certain novel featuresof construction, arrangement and combination of parts as willhereinafter be more fully set forth and pointed out in the appendedclaims.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a trombone embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of my trombone showing therelationship of the mouthpiece, bell branch and slide.

Figure 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail elevation of my improved water pail withparts broken away to show internal structure.

Figure 5 is a section taken on line 55 of Figure 4.

In the drawing, my invention is illustrated in connection with atrombone having the usual bell I0, bell section I I, bell bow l2 andbell branch section [3. The usual bell braces l4, l5, and it connect thebell section H and bell branch section l3. connected to the bell branchsection l3 by a brace l8. As clearly shown in Figure 1, the axes of thehell [0 and mouthpiece I: which, it is to be understood, are normal tothe plane of their respective openings, are substantially parallel sothat the trombonist faces in the same direction as the bell.

Telescopic extensions 20 and 2| (Figure 3) project from the bell branchsection I3 and mouthpiece II respectively. In my new trombone, thetelescopic sections 20 and 2| are parallel to each other but areconnected to the bell branch section [3 and mouthpiece section I! byelbows 53d and lid respectively and are inclined at an angle to the axisof the bell ID. A slide indicated generally at 22 has two parallel arms23 and 24 slidably mounted on the telescopic sections 20 and 2|respectively. The angle of the telescopic sections 20 and 2| is notcritical but I prefer to incline them at an angle of about 45 degrees tothe axis of the bell [0 since at this angle and with the instrument innormal playing position, the vertical and horizontal projections are aminimum for a particular position of the slide 22. The arms 23 and 24are connected and the slide 22 is operated by a slide brace 25 and, tofacilitate the playing of the instrument, a sleeve 26 is rotatablymounted on the slide brace 25 preferably on ball bearings indicated at21. In playing the instrument the trombonist may grip the sleeve 26throughout the full range of movement of the slide 22 and thus maintaincontinuous and firm control of the slide.

The slide 22 is provided with a water key indicated generally at 30. Thewater key 39 consists of a lever 3| pivotally connected to the slide 22as indicated at 32. One end of the lever 3| is provided with a plug orstop 33 which closes an opening 34 in the wall of the slide 22. A spring35 engages the lever 3| to urge the plug or stop 33 to close the opening34. In any trombone or other wind instrument, water collects as theinstrument is played and this water may be eliminated from the tromboneby depressing the free end of the water key which raises the stop orplug 33 from the opening 34 and permits the water to run out. Ordinarilythis water is permitted to run onto the floor but the water pail Theusual mouthpiece I! i rigidly- 3 shown in Figures 4 and 5 eliminates theneed for this offensive and messy practice.

My water pail consists of a cylindrical cup 40 which may be of metal,plastic or other suitable material. One end of the cup is open and theside wall adjacent the open end is provided with a notch 4| which iswide enough to pass over the water key lever 3 I. The open end of thecup 40 is placed over the, end of the Water key at the opening 34 andmay be secured in position by any suitable means such as a wire 42extending around the slide 22. The cup 46 is filled with ab: sorbentmaterial 43 such as cotton. When this water pail is used, the water isabsorbed by. the material 43 when the water key is actuated and even theabsorbent material contained in a small up a t t size f a t mb iet will;be. sufiirient, to take up the water resulting from playing seyeralnumbers. When the material 43 becomes soaked it can be readily replaced.

Mynew trombone presents many advantages over the conventionalinstrument. Because the slide does not come directly toward the mouth,there is less danger of injury to the mouth, lips or teeth while playingin a standing; sitting or permits boys to learn toplay on a standardinstrument and the more natural direction of movement permits-more-rapidslide operation and greater technique thus enhancing the scope of thetrombone as a solo'instrument.

The angularslide-improves the balance of the instrument even when. theslide-is at its extended position thusreducing thephysical strain on thetrombonist and the sleeve on the slide brace aids in eliminatingdistortion during play. Because theslide is inclined downwardly, thebell will still face the audience and the sound will not becomediminished as in the conventional trombone. With myimproved waterpail,the-instrument will besuch as to-satisfy the most fastidious;

Conventional trombones maybe convertedto mynew construction by applyingelbows 13a and Lid. and connecting the bell branchsection I? andmouthpiece H: to the telescopic sections and 2t. However, the-bell I]may have tobe shortenedv to keeptheinstrument at thesame-pitch asoriginally tuned.

The: invention may be embodied in otherspecific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrativeand not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by theappended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are therefore intended to be embracedtherein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A slide trombone comprising a, bell section including a bell on oneend thereof, a bell branch section substantially parallel to said bellsection a bell bow connecting the end of said bell section remote fromsaid bell to one end of said bflll. branch. section, a first telescopicsection connecte ltqthe opposite end of said bell branch section, asecond telescopic section secured to said first telescopic section inparallel relation thereto, and a playing slide for the selection of anormal playing rangeofi tones freely slidably mounted on said telescopicsections, the longitudinal axis of said first telescopic section beingangulated with respect tosaid bell branch section in a direction awayfrom the-axis of said bell secti'on so as to form an obtuse includedangle of substantially lessthan between the connected ends ofsaid bellbranch section and first telescopic section.

2. The slide trombone defined in claim I wherein said included anglelies substantiallyin the plane defined by the longitudinal axes of saidbell section and said bell branch section.

3. The slide. trombone defined in claim 2 including a mouthpiece mountedon said second telescopic section, the axes of said mouthpieceand saidsecond telescopic section being relatively angulated to define an anglesubstantially the same as said: obtuse included angle.

DAVIS SHUMAN.

References Qited? in;v the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSNumber Name Date D- 65,5l l Wakeman .Aug. 26..192! 2413,5102 Beers Apr.,5., 19,38

FQREIGN PATENTS-- Numb r Country Date. 7

a ce of 11862

